Xindi weapon
The Xindi superweapon was a massive, mobile particle beam weapon designed to be able to destroy entire class-M planets. There were actually three weapons built. The weapons were built by the five Xindi species in cooperation, at the instigation of the Guardians, who had informed the Xindi that Humans would be responsible for the destruction of the future Xindi homeworld in the 26th century. The weapon's primary goal was the destruction of Earth. Certain steps were taken to prevent any one species from controlling the weapon. It required activation codes from at least three of the five species in order to function. However, it could be fired instantly if all five codes were used. It could not be armed while the propulsion system was online. (ENT: "The Council", "Countdown") Building the Weapons The weapon was designed primarily by Degra, a Xindi-Primate scientist and member of the Xindi Council, and constructed by the Aquatics. Most of the weapon's components were built by the Xindi, but at least one came from 2573. (ENT: "The Expanse") Another key component of the weapon was the mineral kemocite, which was provided by Gralik Durr's refining facility. (ENT: "The Shipment") Research on the superweapon was very dangerous. In September 2153 there was an accident in Degra's laboratory. Nearly all of his laboratory was destroyed, and three of his researchers were killed. The data lost caused the weapon's development to be set back by months, which induced the Council to consider developing a bioweapon. (ENT: "Rajiin") Destroyer/Probe The first manifestation of the superweapon was a small, one-man prototype. It was launched against Earth in March 2153 as a test, arriving in Earth orbit through the use of a subspace vortex, allowing it to bypass Starfleet and the defense grid. It wiped out seven million people, carving a swath of destruction from Florida to Venezuela; as it did so it transmitted telemetry back to the Council. Afterwards its Xindi-Reptilian pilot set it to self-destruct; the debris landed in Central Asia where it was recovered by a Vulcan transport and then analyzed by Starfleet. (ENT: "The Expanse") The pilot of the probe was a soldier in Commander Dolim's regiment, handpicked by Dolim himself. (ENT: "Azati Prime") The success of this probe could have been stopped by an alternate timeline version of the Enterprise. This version had been present in the timeline for 117 years prior to the launch of the probe (it had arrived in 2037) and as such, knew of the exact date of launch. That crew and that ship were in the area when the probe was launched and could have intervened by plotting a collision course with it and thus destroying both ships. However, its captain Lorian decided not to sacrifice his crew and thus allowed the launch of the probe uninterrupted. This second Enterprise 's existence in the expanse is the one that led the Xindi to believe that there were several Earth ships in the Expanse since their presence was not explained. (ENT: "E²") Second Prototype The second superweapon prototype was unmanned and test-fired in a "proving ground" in the Calindra system inside the Delphic Expanse, under the supervision of Degra himself in December 2153. The tests did not go as planned, as the weapon's materials had been sabotaged by Gralik on behalf of Jonathan Archer of ''Enterprise''. The weapon was subsequntly stolen by the Andorian warship Kumari. The Andorians had hoped to take it home to use as a deterrent against the Vulcans. It was destroyed when T'Pol entered the activation codes and issued an overload command. The Kumari jettisoned the prototype before it exploded, but the shockwave caused significant damage to the power and engine systems. (ENT: "Proving Ground") Final Weapon The final version of the weapon was substantially larger than its two predecessors and was designed to be manned by a skeleton crew. It was constructed in secret on Azati Prime, though when the Enterprise discovered it there, it was moved to the Xindi Council planet. (ENT: "Azati Prime") When it became apparent that Captain Archer was becoming successful in convicing the Council to delay the attack on Earth, Commander Dolim's forces, working in concert with the Insectoids, hijacked the weapon. They also kidnapped Enterprise linguist Hoshi Sato and brainwashed her into decrypting the third activation code. (ENT: "The Council", "Countdown") Enterprise, along with forces of the Primates, Arboreals, and Aquatics, attempted to stop the weapon from entering the vortex to Earth, but were repelled by a Reptilian and Intectoid fleet. The Reptilians and Insectoids were assisted by the creation of numerous anomalies by the Sphere-Builders, and one ship of each race escaped into the vortex with the weapon. The insectoid ship was very shortly destroyed by the Reptilian one, however, when its commander questioned Dolim. (ENT: "Countdown") The weapon emerged in Earth orbit ten hours later, but very close behind it was the vessel of the late Degra, manned by Enterprise personnel including Jonathan Archer, Malcolm Reed, and Hoshi Sato, as well as a MACO squad. The Kumari ran interference for Degra's lightly-armed vessel, enabling the Enterprise team to board the weapon and destroy it by overloading its reactor. Captain Archer was thought killed in the attempt. (ENT: "Zero Hour") The only known way to deactivate the weapon was to turn a set of white tubes to cut power. Explosives could then destroy the turning sphere at the core of the weapon. :In an alternate timeline where Archer was infected by interspatial parasites, ''Enterprise arrived at Azati Prime after the weapon had already been launched. The Xindi destroyed Earth with it before proceeding to wipe out most of the rest of humanity.'' (ENT: "Twilight") The interior of the weapon was mainly hollow. The exact core, however, contained the control area, where the weapon could be activated, fired or repaired. See also: search for the Xindi superweapon Category:Delphic Expanse Category:Weapons de:Xindi-Waffe